The 2010 SMU Mustangs football team represented

Southern Methodist University , mottoeng = "The truth will make you free" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = SACS , academic_affiliations = , religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church , president = R. Gerald Turner , prov ...

in the

2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2010 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on September 2, 2010, and ended on ...

. The Mustangs, led by third-year head coach

June Jones June Sheldon Jones III (born February 19, 1953) is an American football coach and former player who is currently the Offensive Coordinator of the Seattle Sea Dragons. Jones was the head football coach at the University of Hawaii at Manoa from 19 ...

, were members of

Conference USA Conference USA (C-USA or CUSA) is an intercollegiate athletic conference whose current member institutions are located within the Southern United States. The conference participates in the NCAA's Division I in all sports. C-USA's offices are l ...

in the West Division and played their home games at

Gerald J. Ford Stadium Gerald J. Ford Stadium is a stadium in University Park, Texas, with a Dallas mailing address. The stadium is owned by Southern Methodist University (SMU) and used primarily for games played by the SMU Mustangs football team. About Ford Stadiu ...

. For the first time since the 1980s, the SMU Mustangs received a ranking point in both the pre-season

AP Poll The Associated Press poll (AP poll) provides weekly rankings of the top 25 NCAA teams in one of three Division I college sports: football, men's basketball and women's basketball. The rankings are compiled by polling 62 sportswriters and broadca ...

and the pre-season

Coaches Poll The Coaches Poll is a weekly ranking of the top 25 NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) college football, Division I college basketball, and Division I college baseball teams. The football version of the poll has been known officially ...

They finished the season 7–7, 6–2 in C-USA play and were co-champions of the west division with

Tulsa Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma and List of United States cities by population, 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. ...

. Due to their victory over Tulsa, the Mustangs represented the division in the

2010 Conference USA Championship Game The 2010 Conference USA Football Championship Game was played on December 4, 2010, at Bright House Networks Stadium, now known as Spectrum Stadium, in Orlando, Florida. The game was played between the UCF Knights, winner of Conference USA's Eas ...

where they were defeated by UCF 7–17. They were invited to the

Armed Forces Bowl The Armed Forces Bowl, formerly the Fort Worth Bowl from 2003 to 2005, is an annual postseason college football bowl game. First played in 2003, the game is normally held at the 45,000-seat Amon G. Carter Stadium on the campus of Texas Christian ...

in their home stadium where they were defeated by

Army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

14–16.

Schedule

*Denotes the largest crowd to watch a football game at

. This breaks the record set in 2004 when the Mustangs hosted the

Texas Tech Red Raiders The Texas Tech Red Raiders and Lady Raiders are the athletic teams that represent Texas Tech University, located in Lubbock, Texas. The women's basketball team uses the name Lady Raiders, while the school's other women's teams use the "Red Raide ...

. *Denotes the largest crowd to watch a football game at Gerald J. Ford Stadium, breaking the previous mark set earlier in the season.

Game summaries

Texas Tech

This game was the 48th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the Texas Tech Red Raiders. The previous match-up was September 13, 2008, a game in which Texas Tech defeated SMU with a final score of 43–7. After the Mustangs lost in Lubbock, Texas Tech now leads the series 32–16. For his school-record 61 yard field goal, Matt Szymanski was named Conference USA Special Teams Player of the week.

UAB

This game will mark the 4th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the UAB Blazers. They last met in the previous season on September 12, 2009, where SMU defeated UAB with a final score of 35 – 33. After the game, SMU now leads the series 4 – 0.

Washington State

This game will mark the 2nd meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the Washington State Cougars. They last met in the previous season on September 19, 2009, where Washington State defeated SMU with a final score of 30 – 27. After the 2010 meeting, the series stands at 1 – 1. It was the first win for the Mustangs against a school from a BCS conference since they defeated Kansas 31-17 on September 2, 2000.

TCU

This game will mark the 89th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the TCU Horned Frogs. They last met in the previous season on October 3, 2009, where TCU defeated SMU with a final score of 39 – 14. After the 2010 meeting, TCU leads the series 43 – 39 – 7. The two teams have a storied cross-town rivalry and will contend for the Iron Skillet trophy in the

Battle for the Iron Skillet A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

Rice

This game will mark the 88th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the Rice Owls. They last met in the previous season on November 7, 2009, where SMU defeated Rice with a final score of 31 – 28. After the 2010 meeting, SMU now leads the series 47 – 40 – 1. The two teams have a storied cross-state rivalry and will contend for the Mayor's Cup trophy in the

Battle for the Mayor's Cup A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force ...

. It was SMU's first win in Rice Stadium since 1986 before SMU received the Death Penalty for the 1987–88 seasons. Quarterback Kyle Padron was named

Offensive Player of the Week for his performance in the game which included three touchdowns, zero interceptions and 371 total yards.

Tulsa

This game will mark the 18th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. They last met in the previous season on October 31, 2009, where SMU defeated Tulsa with a final score of 27 – 13. After SMU won the 2010 matchup, SMU now leads the series 12 – 6.

Navy

This game will mark the 15th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the Navy Midshipmen. They last met in the previous season on October 17, 2009, where Navy defeated SMU with a final score of 38 – 35. After the 2010 meeting, Navy leads the series 8 – 7. The two schools now compete for the

Gansz Trophy The Gansz Trophy is awarded to the winner of the United States Naval Academy and Southern Methodist University rivalry football game. It was created in 2009 through a collaboration between the two athletic departments.Frank Gansz Frank Gansz (November 22, 1938 – April 27, 2009) was an American football coach whose career spanned nearly 40 years. He served as the head coach for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL) from 1987 to 1988, compiling a rec ...

who played a significant role in both school's football programs.

Houston

This game will mark the 26th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the Houston Cougars. They last met in the previous season on October 24, 2009, where Houston defeated SMU with a final score of 38 – 15. After the 2010 meeting, Houston leads the series 16 – 9 – 1.

Tulane

This game will mark the 19th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the Tulane Green Wave. They last met in the previous season on November 28, 2009, where SMU defeated Tulane with a final score of 26 – 21. After the 2010 meeting, Tulane leads the series 12 – 7.

UTEP

This game will mark the 18th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the UTEP Miners. They last met in the previous season on November 14, 2009, where SMU defeated UTEP with a final score of 35 – 31. After losing 14-28, SMU leads the series 10 – 8.

Marshall

This game will mark the 4th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the Marshall Thundering Herd. They last met in the previous season on November 21, 2009, where Marshall defeated SMU with a final score of 34 – 31. After SMU won the 2010 match 31-17, the series is tied 2 – 2.

East Carolina

This game will mark the 4th meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the East Carolina Pirates. They last met in the previous season on October 10, 2009, where SMU defeated East Carolina with a final score of 28 – 21. After SMU's 45-38 victory, the series is now tied at 2 – 2.

UCF–Conference USA Football Championship Game

This game will mark the 3rd meeting of the SMU Mustangs and the UCF Knights. They last met in 2008, where UCF defeated SMU with a final score of 31 – 17. The all-time series stands in UCF's favor 2-0.

Army–Armed Forces Bowl

Roster

NFL Draft

6th Round, 178th Overall Pick by the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) N ...

—Sr. WR

Aldrick Robinson Aldrick Robinson (born September 24, 1988) is a former American football wide receiver. He is currently an offensive assistant coach for the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Southern Methodist U ...

References

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SMU Mustangs football The SMU Mustangs football program is a college football team representing Southern Methodist University (SMU) in University Park in Dallas County, Texas. The team competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) as a member of the American ...